HK Trip Day 2 - 13 July 2009 (Hong Kong Disneyland)

The second day was all dedicated for Disneyland. Woke up at 6.30, some of us yang solat already tertinggal subuh because subuh here is very early like 5.18am...tula ,tak nak tanya aku!

Got out around 9ish, bought Disney's tickets at the hotel. The fee is $310 equivalent to RM140. To ease of the journey to our $$$..hehehe..we took train. We walked like 3 minutes to the nearest MTR station, Jordan Station and we bought tickets to Lai King Station where we transfered to another train going to Sunny Bay. From Sunny Bay we took the Disneyland train to the last stop which is? DISNEYLAND la...The Disneyland train was quite nice, it has windows with the shape of Mickey trademarks, the seat was comfy in the shape of U and each corner has disney characters statues.

The weather was really REALLY hot there, hmmm...no wonder most of Chinese here using umbrella and mind you the umbrella has all the beautiful kerawang(embroidery) and sequine, you know...just like our baju kurung..hehehe. The park opens at 10am, and if i were to go there again with my kids i think i'll be going in the late afternoon like 3-4 pm because in the morning there are a lot of people and we have to queue like 10 minutes to pass the ticket machines. There were also security check because no food allowed in the park, but from what i observed they quite lenient to non Chinese tourists. The security actually opened my big bag and there it was a big pringle and some chocolate but he's like okay...welcome to Disneyland!!!

Masuk aje, terus le bergambar. Posing here and there. Then masuk kedai at the Main Street, by the time masuk Park ..everybody dah letih dengan panasnyer lagi. The first park that we entered was adventureland where we watched the lion king show. The songs in the musical show was performed mostly by the african (probably african american) and the dancers mostly, i think based on their look are hawaiian. Handsome2 belake and body mengancam...hehehe. Nevertheless there are some Chinese elements embedded in the show.

Then after that we went to Fantasyland where we watched the Mickey Mouse 3D show and take a boat ride in the Smallworld. Actually all the souvenir shops in the theme park sells the same merchandise like key chain, bracelet, tshirt, watch, stationery etc but we ended up going into each and every stores in the park that selling the same merchandise! How lunatic was that? I bought myself nothing from the store but bought hubby and naim disneyland tshirts. Got maryam and sarah a bracelet, ring & earring set and tshirt. Also some other souvenirs for close family.

Once in a while,there was a parade in the street where all the disney characters like mr incredible family, stitch, mickey, donald, toy story characters etc waving at us. The last park was tomorrowland but by then everybody has already very tired and muka already cam tempoyak.

We took train back to the hotel at 5pm. Back at the hotel, solat and had tea. Around 7pm took a cab to Chungkin Mansion which was like 5 minutes from our hotel. Chungkin Mansion is a building where there are many Muslim halal restaurants can be found. As Fas's dearly beloved recommended one, we just went straight to it which is located on the ground floor. The name is Shalimar Restaurant. It is a quite small and cosy air conditioned restaurant. It served all kinds of beriyani, roti and other northern indian cuisine. We ordered 2 chicken beriyani, 1 chicken tandoori, 2 naan bread and fish curry. OMG!!! It was the best beriyani ever! and the fish curry was excellent! I thought Insaf Beriyani back home was nice and being me who didn't really enjoy Indian/Pakistani cuisine, well it was worth it!Yum!Yum! While we were finishing up the food, a familiar face suddenly appeared outside the windows...sebok je dearly beloved Fas ni! hehehe...

After makan valued at a good $190, took a stroll at Parklane Boulevard, bought a handbag for myself and a purse for souvenir. We finally rest for the day at 11pm at the hotel.

HK Trip Day 1 - 12 July 2009

The flight that morning was at 9:15am, already checked all of us in prior that night via MAS online check in, printed boarding passes. Hubby sent me to airport at 6:45am, reached KLIA 7.20am. Went straight to check in baggage, Gee was already there, then a few minutes later Hanum, Aiza and Fas was the last to arrive. Boarding the gate 8.45am, alahai kapal terbang kecik & lama la...Everybody were so excited & full of energy. Reached HK airport 1.10pm, took airport express to Kowloon Station, the fee was $310 for 5 people. The airport train was quite nice. From Kowloon Station we took a cab to the Novotel Hotel in Nathan Road....5 people in one cab plus 5 luggages...hmmm...imagine!,but the cab is quite big macam cab malaysia zaman dulu2 yang volvo or mercedes tu.

Sampai hotel, check in...thank god they responded to my request to have connecting rooms. Our room was a corner lot, quite nice with modern design but a bit sempit for 3 people (me, aiza & fas)...hanum & gee shared another room. First thing first makan, masing2 had a maggi in a cup each & tea before going to Harbour City around 4pm. Took a cab from the hotel, got a nice cab driver who can speak a little and understandable english. He actually snapped our photo in the cab masa berhenti kat simpang, siap bas kat belakang tu honking sebab tak jalan2 lagi dok sibuk amik gambar we all..

Sampai Harbour City, ronda ronda all the boutiques. Harbour City is like Gardens Midvalley where designer products are available, some brands are not available back home. Seems that most of the boutiques are having sale, singgah nine west, got myself a pair of circa joan & david shoes 40% off. aiza bought a 50% off anne klein bag, nice color. Then masuk fcuk, ralph lauren, mulberry...not worth buying. Masuk one kedai dunno the name, tak jumpa kat msia...berkenan a pair of sunglasses...cantik GILER!!!...brand? Tom Ford....price? $3900!!!...mahainyer! tapi cantiknyer!!!oh well, byebye!

Then habis ronda setengah harbour city, got out and went to H&M across the street. Bought myself a tunic & a tshirt for sarah. Around 7+, took a cab & went to Mongkok. Mongkok is a place where we can get souvenir and good imitation branded products. It was a place that I really do not want to go sebab kat msia pun aku takkan pegi places like jln TAR or petaling street kalau tak perlu. But the stuff here is really cheap & really like real one. Stuff like branded watches, branded handbags like gucci, LV, coach...sebijik macam original. But you have to really2 bargain sampai dapat 1/4 of the price. Bought myself a bvlgari watch at $250...dalam RM100. Got some HK TShirts & cermin for souvenir. Got myself tiffany &co and chanel charmbracelets for $40 each. By halfway of the market, started feeling very tired...budak2 ni tak ghupe nak balik lagi ni...

We finally reached the end of the market around 10pm and headed back to the hotel. End of Day One.

Weekend Getaway - JB

Dah 2 minggu tak post sebarang cerita. Dua minggu lepas the last weekend of June, we packed up our things and go to JB. Sebenarnya dah plan lama untuk pergi ke wedding budak office husband. Already booked M-Suites resort for a nite, tak tau pun hotel apa elok ke tidak tapi sebab lokasinya di tepi laut which is betul betul facing danga bay and the only one kat area tu yang ada 2-3 bedroom apartment & kitchenette, so amik jer around RM400++. Lagipun ada spa...hehehe, booked jugak spa tu for an hour massage.
Bertolak agak pagi around 9ish. Sampai pasar borong sgor, jumpa a couple of other cars to convoy, ours dok depan sekali sebab ada the most reliable GPS..hehe. One of the friends siap bagi walkie talkie to facilitate the journey. After making a few stops at the r&r, we reached the rumah pengantin dalam pukul 1.30pm. Pengantin lum bersanding lagi, dalam kad kata bersanding jam 2.30pm. Kawasan tu cam previously high class punya area la kira kat jb, hilly area cam bukit tunku tapi sekarang ni too many construction so hilangla sikit ke'ekslusif'annye. Rumah pengantin tu single storey bungalow, kat parking tu dia setup the pelamin and then kat depan pelamin tu cam ada garden sikit dia dirikan 2 khemah. Another 2 khemah lagi dia setup kat rumah jiran dia, so we all gi la kat rumah jiran tu untuk menjamu selera.
Fulamak!!! best tu makanan dia. Ada nasi ayam and laksa johor. Nampak pun memang sodap,especially laksa johor tu. Sengaja amik banyak and makan laksa johor tu dengan tangan, traditional johorean style ....fuyyoo!!bestnyer!, kalau pengantin tu sedara, lama dah mintak bawak balik satu tupperware. Disebabkan banyak ngat makan laksa tu so makan sikit jer nasi ayam dia, sedap gak!.
Around 2.30 pengantin pun datang, lepas diorang bersanding and hubby & friends jumpa the pengantin, around 3.30, we all made a move. Sampai hotel tu around 4pm, rupanyer hotel tu formerly ming court. The view was nice. The hotel also nice. Booked 2 bedroom suite tapi actually 2.5 bedroom sebab ada satu bilik kecil for maid. Tapi sebab maid tak ikut, so bilik tu untuk naim tukar baju. Sampai2 jer, hmmm...asyik kena tanya bila nak pegi swimming. Around 5 hubby took the kids to pool and at 6pm me with the spa...hmmm...best!
After shower and getting the kids ready, went out around 7.30 to the nearest gerai kat Jln Sg Chat, beli ikan bakar, sotong bakar, murtabak & otak2....sedapnyer otak2 dia. Semua take away. Makan kat hotel, start with ikan bakar....fulamak bestnyer!, sotong bakar!...delicious & yummy & tasty. Budak2 as usual lah, apalagi kalu their fav nasi ayam. Mek yam, makan nasi ayam with soup. Pukul 9 sume tido, keletihan.
Esoknyer, breakfast kat hotel...hmmm...biasa jer la makanan dia. Around 10 budak2 gi pool lagi, kul 11 naik mandi & siap for journey home.

Presenting paper in a conference - an experience

Last wednesday, came back to the office after taking a few days off. Received a call from UiTM saying that one of the journal paper that my group (me, mai & anum) prepared was selected by the committe to be presented in the parallel session during the global biz conference in the uni next week. I know Mai won't be presenting as she'll be happily touring London and Paris at that time. Called anum and tell her about it, she asked me to present....hmmm...as always lah. Setakat present kat uni ni...hmmm I'm ok with it but a bit malas to review the slides tapi ku gagahi jua reviewing and re-arranging the slides into something that I am comfortable enough to present it. How come this paper got accepted? If I were the selection committee, I won't consider this paper..hahaha..hmm...I've got nothing to wear but who cares?

Come the day of the presentation, reached there around 9 for registration & opening remarks from Dr FH and that African guy. Actually we didn't register because the committe asked us to go straight into the auditorium because the registration is on the upper level. So ok, we just go into the auditorium and after the opening remarks we were ushered to the upper level for registration. Met Dr NA our thesis advisor, she asked us about the result and she's happy because we can make it to the end of the course.

At first,I wasn't actually understand what does it mean with parallel session. A parellel session is a 20 minutes-presentation for academician or students to partially present their PhD paper or to present journal paper for publication. The purpose of the presentation is to get as many comments as possible from the facilitator or the audience in order for them to proceed with their PhD thesis. Oooo...I thought for PhD, we just do it all out and only present once during the defence session. Wow! they actually have to pay & attend these kind of conference in order to get comments/views from different people in different uni. No wonder it takes 4 years! I don't think I want to do PhD lah...

The presenters for the parellel session was divided into a few sessions in 5 different rooms. My session is at 10.45 - 11.45 am and there are 3 papers to be presented in that session. Mine was the first one in that 10.45 session. I think we are the only one with journal paper, the rest was doing their PhD papers. I think my presentation was the fastest one...hehe...well it wasn't as comprehensive as PhD thesis! Got a few questions from participants from India (can't remember what uni was it but they reminded me of Shenkar GEMS), Mr Reza (an Iranian guy), Dr SAR & Dr RM. Me as usual, confidently kelentong some of the answers but who cares! Well, we were the ones that doing the paper and we know better...hahaha.

It went pretty well actually. What an experience!